Mother, boyfriend charged after Churchville boy's overdose death

December 07, 2017 06:39 PM

Prosecutors say a Churchville boy died of a drug overdose after being left at home alone this past summer. Now his mother and her boyfriend are facing charges.

In June, deputies said 10-year-old J'Vieon Grayson-Sutton died after being found unresponsive at his home on Fitch Street in Churchville. The boy was revived by emergency crews and rushed to the hospital where he later died.

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After his death, deputies said they recovered a "white powdery substance" from the home, but couldn't say if the substance was responsible for the boy's death.

Thursday, we learned that test determined the substance was Fentanyl -- a powerful painkiller. Prosecutors say the boy ingested it and then died from an overdose. His mother, 29-year-old Dolfona Grayson, and her boyfriend, 30-year-old Walter Morse, are now facing charges for his death.

Grayson (left) and Morse (right)

Grayson is charged with manslaughter. Morse is facing 15 counts including manslaughter. He is also facing charges for an attempted murder in the City of Rochester. Prosecutors say Grayson said she left her son and other child with her boyfriend who later left the home himself. Prosecutors say the mother acted recklessly by allowing the boy to stay in a home with drugs in the first place.

"J'Vieon had some behavioral issues that caused him to have some compulsive behaviors whereby he would ingest things, rapidly and basically whatever he could get his hands on," said Sara VanStrydonck, Monroe County Assistant District Attorney. "It's our allegations that there were drugs in the apartment -- a small apartment -- contained in the adult bedroom with paraphernalia."

She adds, "In this case, if you have a child -- any child -- but specifically a child that has some specific behavioral problems including ingesting substances... And you have a child around a drug that has no benefit in the medical community or anything... You have a kid around that and you are aware this kid has a problem... The allegations here are again [it is[ reckless."